FLIGHTS:
The event will start at around 12:00pm in Madrid on the Thursday and finish on Sunday at approximately 3:00pm. The nearest airport is Madrid Airport (MAD) which is approximately 15-20 minutes from the hotel by taxi or 1 hour 15 minutes by public transport. Uber from the airport costs around 15-20 Euros.
THE HOTEL:
The hotel is a luxurious 5 star hotel with an outdoor terrace, wellness space and relaxing outdoor pool. It is located approximately 30 minutes from the city center. All rooms are a minimum 60m2 including a relaxing lounge area, modern en-suite bathrooms, kitchenette and full air conditioning.
MADRID:
Madrid has excellent art museums, phenomenal food, enormous parks and Europe’s largest palace, but its inclusive atmosphere is what really makes the city soar.
In many ways, Madrid is similar to many other international metropolises – it’s Spain’s largest city, has the largest population, is the capital and is the center for international business. But, before you jump to conclusions, hush … if you listen carefully, you can hear the gentle melodies of the Spanish guitar, the swish of a flamenco dancer’s skirt, and the happy laughter from a midday meal infused with too many glasses of sangria. Yes, Madrid is for travelers interested in famous paintings and stunning architecture, but it’s also, and maybe more so, for those looking for an unhurried good time.
JEWISH MADRID:
The Jewish community of Madrid is as old as is the city. The first Jews settled in Madrid in the ninth century, but the earliest historical records date back to the mid-eleventh century only, specifically, to the year 1053. The community had begun to grow and prosper a couple of centuries before, and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Jewish population increased considerably. Nevertheless, the Fuero de Madrid statute of 1202 refers to a small Jewish community that wasn’t held in high esteem, which forced them to dwell in the Jewish quarter, known as the judería.
In 1085, Madrid saw the birth of the old judería, which lay near the present-day Teatro Real opera house and Calle del Arenal. It comprised around twenty homes distributed across four irregularly shaped blocks. Adjoining this quarter was the cemetery, located where today is Plaza de Oriente.
Three centuries later, after the Black Death outbreak, the local Jews were forced to move to the new judería, adjacent to Campo del Rey (Plaza de la Armería), on the site where La Almudena Cathedral currently stands. The new Jewish quarter was made of some twenty homes and a synagogue, scattered across six blocks.
In 2007, the Jews of Madrid commemorated the 90th anniversary of the first synagogue opened in the city after the Spanish Inquisition by establishing the History Museum of the Jewish Community of Madrid. The museum has pictures, documents and publications with information on Jews in Madrid and in Spain, including records of their return to the Iberian Peninsula 400 years after being expelled. Visitors are required to make bookings in advance at the Office of the Secretary of the Community.
Within walking distance from Plaza de Oriente stands the Cañete Palace (Calle Mayor 69), whose construction commenced in the late sixteenth century. The palace, whose designer drew on Juan de Herrera’s style, is home to the Sephardic-Israeli Centre, created in 2006 with the aim of disseminating the rich Sephardic heritage and becoming a link between Spain, Israel and the Jewish culture. A monument of Jewish Queen Esther sits in the garden.
A Holocaust Memorial was inaugurated in 2007 after an agreement signed by the Madrid authorities and the Jewish Community of Madrid. Designed by artist Samuel Nahon in cooperation with architect Alberto Stisin, it’s located in the Garden of the Three Cultures in Juan Carlos I Park, aimed at preserving the memory of the Jews killed under the Nazi regime.
On the parterre in El Retiro Park there’s a monument that pays tribute to Doctor Pulido, in remembrance of his indefatigable efforts to strengthen ties between the Sephardic community and Spain.
